HC order on hawker market work halt

The site of the proposed market. (Suman Tamang)

TT, Calcutta, Sept. 5: The Calcutta high court has directed Darjeeling municipality to file an affidavit within three weeks stating what steps it had taken to stop the construction of the proposed hawkers’ market on CR Das Road near Chowrasta.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Asim Banerjee issued the directive on Wednesday in response to a Public Interest Litigation.

Daulat Singh Rasailly and few other residents of Darjeeling town had filed the PIL on Monday against the construction of the hawkers’ market.

The petitioners said the construction would affect the environment. The complex was supposed to come up at a site where tourists gather for a view of the mountains. The state and the GTA are the respondents to the case.

Bharat Pratap Subba, the advocate who appeared for Darjeeling municipality, said he had informed the court that the civic body had taken steps to stop the construction. “We have told the honourable bench that the municipality has already told the company engaged by the state government that the work has to be stopped. The municipality has also made it clear that no permission would be given to set up the hawkers’ complex. At this, the judges told us to file all this as an affidavit.”

The bench has adjourned the case for three weeks and the judges have given the petitioners liberty to contact them in case of “any problems”.

Mamata Banerjee had laid the foundation of the complex on January 23. But within a week, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha MLA from Darjeeling, Triloke Dewan, wrote to the state saying he had not been informed about the market. In May, the Morning Health Club prevented workers from marking trees for felling at the site.

The municipality had evicted hawkers from Chowrasta in 2012. A shed was constructed on a downhill stretch close to the area but it was not enough for the 347 hawkers who were removed. The state then planned the hawkers’ market.